the blue oval

[wldavis]

My Dad lives about 120 mi away. He owns a 1965 Ford

4 door (not a Galaxie, but the bottom-of-the-line trim

level "Custom") that he bought new. It does, however,

have the optional 352 V8, with 4bbl and dual exhaust,

air, power steering and power brakes. (I got my

drivers license in the summer of '62). So, this

weekend my young son (only a month away from getting

his "learners permit" to drive) and I go down to see

Dad. One of the reasons we are going is that for

Christmas, I gave Dad one of those dash caps for his

'65, and we were going to install it. I originally

wanted him to spring for a new dash pad, but he

couldn't see paying out the big bucks, so I found

a place on the internet that sold the caps. The

installation worked out great. It looks so much

better than that sun-baked and cracked padded dash.

The son was "all questions" concerning the '65, since

this is the first time he has really been around it

after arriving at "the age of inquiry" concerning all

things automotive. He was "in awe" concerning the

thin, large diameter steering wheel, the three 'V'

belt pulley system and the foot operated headlight

dimmer switch. After finishing our job and after he

had a good look at the car, he asked: "so, what kind

of car is this?" (My Dad always just referrs to it

as "the '65"). I said: "what do you mean?" He said:

"you know, who made it?" And I told him it was a

Ford. Other than the word "Custom" on the front

fenders, it has those widely spaced "F O R D"

letters on the lead edge of the hood and on the

back of the trunk. And, on the full wheel covers &

the center of the steering wheel, it has a crest

in front of a blue background. Then my son asked:

"But, where is the blue oval?"

So, I would like to know, what years did Ford use

the blue oval on their cars? I know the Model A

had it and it has been in use since the late '80's,

but I don't think it was used in the '50's, '60's, or

'70's.

Does anyone know the years of use?

Thank you,

-Bill

[Dave@Moon]

I'm not too sure about trucks, but the blue oval re-appeared on Ford cars' exteriors with the 1981 1/2 Escort EXP, and was applied to the regular Escort and Granada in 1982. By 1983 it was found pretty much accross the board.

It had originally disappeared from the cars after 1935, and from trucks after 1939 (although I believe the truck's blue color had disappeared sometime earlier in the 1930's).

[rocketraider]

Isn't there a variant of it on the 46-48 passenger car top grille bar? or is that just the Ford script?

Bill, a 65 Ford is one of my favorite non-Olds cars. Knew several folks here who put Custom 500 taillights on LTD/Galaxie for a "Custom" touch in the mid 70s. The law used them here so there was always a good supply of them in the junkyards.

[Dave@Moon]

The Ford script lived on for a decade or so outside the oval (again longer on the trucks), but the oval wasn't a part of the picture any more. This 1946 ad is likely one of the last times that the oval motif appeared even in FoMoCo print (sans blue coloring), though I'm by no means an expert.

The chrome housing for the red Ford script in the 1946-48 grille was oval in shape, however. Unfortunately, given the chaos that was post WW2 Ford Motor Corp. it's hard to say how deliberate that might have been.

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

I think they went to the "coat-of-arms" shield emblem in '49 and stayed with that through various morphications into the '70s.

I would think that when Ford introduced the all-new "shoebobox" cars in '49 (really all-new since all traces of Old Henry's model "T" were now gone - including the solid front axle and transverse springs !), they probably wanted to downplay any possible associations between the new car and any "primitive" predecessors that so proudly wore the Blue Oval (like the Model A); so the all-new Ford got an all-new Emblem....

By the 1980s, Ford was probably ready to "embrace their heritage" and didn't mind bringing back the "classic" emblem (blue oval); other marques were doing this around the same time - Buick & Olds, I believe, revived their badges from the early '20s; and once again Chryslers are sporting the "winged golden seal", which was probably last seen on Chryslers in the early 1950's.

Just my thoughts on the subject...

Enjoy the Galaxy !

(Dad had 2 '62s - both 4dr & desert beige - one was a plain-jane Galaxy with the 223 cid six cylinder, the other a Galaxy 500 with the 292 V-8.)

[wldavis]

Thank you, Dave, Glenn and Frank for your

replies. There is always a lot to learn on

this forum.

Glenn, yes, it is odd that Ford used such

a different taillight treatment for the

Custom and Custom 500 cars. I can't

recall this being the case in any other

year.

And, also, was 1965 the first year that

Ford used "LTD" on any of their cars?

I think that the Galaxie 500 LTD was

a higher trim level of the Galaxie 500.

-Bill

[RPrice]

I remember the coat of arms badge on the 50s Fords. Personally, I like that badge better than the oval, but maybe that's just me. I really don't know when the blue oval started.

Rog